Jackson Free Press

Girl Scouts of Greater Mississippi will honor Ebony Lumumba, an associate professor of English at Jackson State University, and four other leaders at its Women of Distinction event on Thursday, Sept. 16, at the Westin Hotel in downtown Jackson.

The Women of Distinction fundraiser supports activities for Girl Scouts, which has 8,000 members across 45 counties in central and south Mississippi.

In addition to Ebony Lumumba, the other women leaders receiving honors at the event include Carolyn Boteler, president at TempStaff; Cathy Lott Northington, chief operating officer for the Mississippi Economic Council; Dorothy Shaw, director of Ethics, Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Ingalls Shipbuilding; and Mississippi Republican Executive Dana Stringer.

The Women of Distinction event begins at 5:30 p.m. and will feature a reception, a silent auction and live music by Kerry Thomas. The awards ceremony will take place at 7 p.m. Tickets are available starting at $125 per person, with a “Friend of the Girl Scouts” sponsorship available for $500 for a pair. Corporate sponsorships begin at the bronze level for $1,500.

For more information, visit jsums.edu or gsgms.org.

JSU and CenterPoint Energy Establish Coding Academy for Freshmen

Texas-based electric and natural gas company CenterPoint Energy recently donated $30,000 to Jackson State University to help launch a new Coding Academy for freshmen.

JSU alum Kimberly Blasingame, whose family previously established the Wash Family Endowed Scholarship at JSU, is director of Human Resources and Diversity and Inclusion and Talent Acquisition at CenterPoint Energy.

Blasingame said in a release that the CenterPoint hopes to eventually hire trained students from the Coding Academy to work in the company's Mississippi and corporate offices. CenterPoint is also offering education grants and workforce planning services, and will also provide jobs for those who opted not to attend college.

For more information, visit jsums.edu or centerpointenergy.com.

MSU Establishes Center for Academic Advising

Mississippi State University recently received an anonymous private gift through its MSU Foundation to establish a new Center for Academic Advising, which aims to ensure student onboarding and educational goal progression. MSU plans to hire a new executive director of advising to develop and maintain the CAA and oversee a pilot program of professional advisors to develop strategies for encouraging academic continuity, engagement and completion among students.

The university is also adding new software as part of the three-year pilot program, which aims to link students with academic advisors and for provide early alerts when students need immediate assistance. The software generates data on those who might benefit from use of MSU’s Learning Center, tutoring, study groups and Supplemental Instruction, a release from MSU says.

MSU's current Navigator and Pathfinder programs, which utilize students to help guide freshmen through their first year, will combine and cooperate on an initiative to integrate with a new academic coaching model. The new model will employ professional staff and graduate assistants to engage with students.

The university also plans to study and grow existing student success academic programs such as College Ready and First-Year Experience, the release says. College Ready, an early enrollment program for incoming freshmen, will provide more course offerings and student programming. FYE will take part in MSU’s General Education Task Force, which is examining curriculum opportunities that could advance FYE offerings.

For more information, visit msstate.edu.

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